Ladies and Gentlemen, Meet Max Modem!
"Ladies and Gentleman, Meet Max Modem!" is an episode of Phineas and Ferb. Synopsis When Linda is asked to do a Lindana reunion concert, Lawrence worries that she might be missing the excitement of her old life, so he asks the boys to help turn him into a pop star so that he can perform at the concert and show Mom he too is an exciting guy. Across town, Dr. Doofenshmirtz plans a faux alien invasion in order to take over the Tri-State Area. Plot Phineas, Ferb, and Candace are watching TV when a television show called 'Where are They Now?' features Lindana. Candace is thinks that she looks familiar and is surprised when the narrator says that she lives in the Tri-State Area and rushes into the kitchen and asks why her Mom didn't tell her. She responds by saying that was before she was born, and that she'd rather have a family. When Candace says that Lindana spread happiness, Linda replies by saying that she's Linda, and she's making soup. Phineas and Ferb appear in the kitchen and say that Linda has a call from an agent asking her to appear as Lindana in an 80's reunion concert. Linda isn't so sure, but Candace begs her to go so that she can go because it'll be fun and cool because she's with Lindana. Phineas supports Linda, but Lawrence reluctantly agrees. Linda tells Lawrence from her limo that dinner is "in the oven, just heat it up." Candace appears out of the sunroof and excitedly shouts. Lawrence admits that the moment he's feared the most has happened. When Phineas asks what he means, Lawrence replies by saying that Linda will meet a lot of fun and cool people, and that he may not appear cool enough. Besides, he laments, he can't sing. Then Phineas wonders if Lawrence's failure can be turned into success. Ferb says he knows what they're going to do today. Perry (Agent P) enters the lair through the middle sofa cushion and slides through a tube followed by money. Major Monogram says that they've monitored Doofenshmirtz constantly playing with a hula-hoop. After Agent P is shot out of the lair via a spring, he activates his hang glider and glides towards Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated. When he arrives, Doofenshmirtz is already hula-hooping. He asks Agent P to do the hula-hoop. Then he asks if he can do it with his hands on down. Agent P obliges and is trapped by Doofenshmirtz's constricting hula hoop. Doofenshmirtz stops as well, saying that his hips were nearly hula-hooped off. He unveils his Alien-inator. He demonstrates it by firing a laser that causes alien holograms to appear to scare the public into thinking an invasion is happening and that he's the alien leader so the public will give him power. Lawrence, with the help of Phineas and Ferb, transforms into "Max Modem" an unknown 80's singer, teaching him how to play music with minimal effort. Lawrence asks how he can imitate a celebrity and Phineas replies that they aren't making him a celebrity but a has been. When they enter the concert Phineas acts like Max Modem was a big deal. Many people don't know him but because he appears to have been big they quickly act like they are huge fans. Then after Lindana and Candace sing Max Modem comes and sings. Then Doofenshmirtz's Alien-inator projects the hologram and defends itself by knowing Agent P's every move. So Perry takes off his hat and begins acting like a mindless animal. The Alien-inator doesn't recognize Perry, and so is confused. Perry jumps up and knocks over the inator, then turns the hologram away from Doofenshmirtz and over to Max Modem. So the song ends and Max confronts Linda asking for a cup of tea some time but Linda states that she has Lawrence. So Linda asks Lawrence why he did all this and Lawrence states that he did it since Linda was around cool people and he wanted to be cool. Then Phineas says that a manager wants a tour of Max and Lindana but Linda refuses because she states that you don't need to be cool to be happy -- much to Candace's disappointment. Phineas asks how Linda kept her voice so good over the years and she replies that she has 'always' just lip synched. Then Perry comes back. Cast * Vincent Martella as Phineas * Ashley Tisdale as Candace * Thomas Sangster as Ferb * Caroline Rhea as Mom * Richard O'Brien as Dad * Dan Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz * Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram * Dee Bradley Baker as Perry * Meira Blinkoff as Sally (uncredited) Songs *I'm Lindana and I Wanna Have Fun! *What Do It Do? (instrumental) *Alien Heart Goofs * When Phineas and Ferb appear in the kitchen and say that Linda has a call from an agent, Ferb blinks and you can see right through his right eye. * Before Max Modem sings Alien Heart, the crowd have the shoelaces around their finger. This does not seem fitting to the theme of the song ("Tip of the Day"). * When Perry is about to turn into pet mode, his eye color changes from brown to blue. * The ring on Lawrence's hairdo is red, but when he is shown walking through the line at the arena it is brown. Then, in the next shot, the ring is red again. * During the song I'm Lindana and I Wanna Have Fun!, the backup singers are girls, but the voices of the singers are male. This may be due to the fact she was lip-syncing. * On TV at the beginning of the episode, Lindana's image is mirrored, most noticeably because her belt says YOT instead of TOY and her hairbow is on the other side. * On T.V when there is a close up of "Lindana" she doesn't have any pupils. * When Doofenshmirtz is in his "King of the Aliens" costume, his face turns a darker brown color. * In the last shot of the episode, the spots on Linda's jacket disappear. Trivia * This is the first episode when Ferb says the "I know what we're gonna do today" line and Phineas's name, apart from in the song Backyard Beach. *This episode reveals that by this point in time, Phineas and Ferb know Lindana is Linda, but Candace does not. *Doofenshmirtz builds a robot that can't recognize Perry without his hat, not unlike Doof himself. *This is the first episode where Lawrence is shown singing alone. *This episode reveals that Lawrence knows how to play the keytar and the keyboard. *This episode reveals that Linda was just lip syncing I'm Lindana and I Wanna Have Fun! and before with her one-hit wonder day. This could be an inside joke about the fact that Olivia Olson actually sings the song. It could also be a reference to 80's pop group Milli Vanilli, who won a Grammy but returned it after it was revealed they just lip synched to pre-recorded voices. *The Charity Girl from "Finding Mary McGuffin" makes an appearance in this episode. Her name was also revealed as Sally. *Doofenshmirtz mentions to Sally's father about Friday nights, which is ironic, considering that the majority of Phineas and Ferb episodes premiere on Friday nights on Disney Channel. This may also be another example of a fourth wall break in the series. *The holographic aliens descend from the sky in rows, just like they do in the game Space Invaders. This is also alluded to by Doofenshmirtz shouting "You're being invaded! From Space! By invaders! From space!". *The name and looks of Max Modem is obviously a parody of the famous Max Headroom from the famous Coke ads and TV show of the 80s. *The robot musicians behind Lawrence may be an allusion to the duo Daft Punk, who dress as robots when performing. *A green, upside-down Hidden Mickey is seen on the left collar of Linda's jacket at the end of the episode. *Lawrence's "Max Modem" suit design and hairstyle are similar to Riff Raff's Space Commander suit in the climactic scenes of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Lawrence's voice actor, Richard O'Brien actually created the play, helped write the screenplay and played Riff Raff in the film. Lawrence's line "You know, I feel strangely comfortable like this" may be an allusion to this earlier role. *When Max Modem first enters the convention center, one of the crowd mentions having his 45. This refers to a format of vinyl records popular before cassette tapes were used. The number refers to the number or rotations per minute. *Lindana's lyrics ("I'm not Roxanne, I'm not Eileen, I'm not Sharona") reference three songs from the late 70s/early 80s: "Roxanne" by The Police, "Come on Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners, and "My Sharona" by The Knack. * Dr. Doofenshmirtz stands on a soap crate, like Phineas in "Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You!". * The Alien-inator picture of Agent P is the same pose as in "Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown". International premieres * July 23, 2010 (Disney Channel Latin America) * August 8, 2010 (Disney Channel Taiwan) * August 22, 2010 (Disney Channel Asia) * August 31, 2010 (Disney Channel Brazil) * September 6, 2010 (Disney XD Poland) * November 14, 2010 (Disney XD France) * December 11, 2010 (Disney XD Spain) * December 16, 2010 (Disney Channel Spain) * February 8, 2011 (Disney XD UK) * February 11, 2011 (Disney Channel Scandinavia) * March 18, 2011 (Disney XD Scandinavia) References Category:Television episodes Category:Phineas and Ferb episodes